13 Class XII students booked for ragging, assaulting juniors over wearing shoes
Thirteen senior students were booked for allegedly ragging and assaulting two juniors at a Kerala school, who were targeted for wearing shoes.
Thirteen senior students were booked for allegedly ragging and assaulting two juniors at a Kerala school, who were targeted for wearing shoes.
Thirteen senior students were booked for allegedly ragging and assaulting two juniors at a Kerala school, who were targeted for wearing shoes.
Kasaragod: Thirteen senior students of Government Higher Secondary School, Adoor, have been booked for allegedly ragging and assaulting two Class XI students for wearing shoes to school. The incident took place on July 13, the second day of the academic year.
The mother of one of the victims said senior students had slapped him on the first day of school and warned him not to wear baggy trousers, shoes or ornaments to school. He wore shoes to school again the next day. "Around 13 students cornered him near the water point and assaulted him. His friend was assaulted in the bathroom,” she said.
The school's anti-ragging committee examined the complaint and concluded that the incident amounted to ragging. Based to its report, the Adoor police registered a case against the 13 students.
The students have been booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for unlawful assembly, rioting, wrongful restraint and voluntarily causing hurt. They have also been booked under Sections 3 and 4 of the Kerala Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1998.
Under Section 4 of the Act, a person convicted of ragging may face imprisonment for up to two years and a fine of up to ₹10,000. Under Section 5, a student convicted under Section 4 must be dismissed from the educational institution and cannot be admitted to another educational institution for three years from the date of dismissal.
Several cases of senior students allegedly bullying and assaulting juniors have been reported from schools and colleges in Kasaragod district, including in Paivalike, Kumbla and Belloor panchayats. Police stations have been awaiting reports from the respective schools' anti-ragging committees to determine whether the incidents amounted to ragging before proceeding under the anti-ragging law.
Kasaragod Government College has suspended 13 second and third year undergraduate students for allegedly assaulting a first-year student. The college's anti-ragging committee has not yet concluded that the incident amounted to ragging, although it forwarded the complaint to the police, who registered a case of assault.